Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Cruise

Once I got back from Colonial Fort Michilimackinac and the Old Mackinac Lighthouse, Scott and I fed the dogs and we all left for the Upper Peninsula and headed out to Munising, Michigan - a 2 hour drive.  We drove over the famous Mackinac Bridge.  Originally, we were supposed to drive the rig over the bridge toward Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and continue our journey through the Upper Peninsula, but we have to take the Montana back to Indiana to finish up the painting, so we had to adjust.  We passed the State Park I was in earlier that day as be went over the bridge.

The first place we stopped was the Pictured Rocks Visitor Center to stamp my Passport Book.  The girls were happy to get out for a little walk.  It was a very small visitor center with a small display and a few rangers helping people find overnight camping.

After we stamped my book, we drove a little bit down the coast.  We were scheduled to be on the 5 p.m. Spray Falls Cruise on the water to see Pictured Rocks.  Cruises are done through www.picturedrocks.com and not affiliated with the National Park System.  There are a few different types of cruises.  I wanted to see the waterfall, so we chose the late afternoon 2.5 hour Spray Falls tour.  FAQs are here about the tours.  Lighting for the pictured rocks is best in the late afternoon because of the west setting sun against the rocks.  Cruises sell out quickly and I purchased our tickets two days prior.  You can see the schedule and fares here.  The girls were able to be boarded at the Pictured Rocks Cruise building complimentary so that didn't cost us anything but a lock or bring your own.  The dogs are safe and sound while you are on your cruise.  I thought that was a great thing to provide especially since we drove 2 hours to get there.  The office told me that we should be in line by 4:15 p.m. if we hoped to get a decent seat for photos. When 4:15 p.m. came, we were still pretty far back in line, so we should have gotten in line a little earlier, but I knew where I wanted to sit to get the best photos so when we boarded, we headed straight to the front right side of the boat.

We met some fun people while waiting in line.  Here's a few photos of the dock.  Munising is a charming small town in the U.P. (aka Upper Peninsula as they say).

So, on our tour, we sailed past 14 points of interest along the coastline of Pictured Rocks and then on the way back saw the old Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse.  Pictured Rocks are sandstone cliffs of multiple colors of streaked mineral stains coupled against emerald waters and blue skies along with forests makes Pictured Rocks a magical place.  It was the countries first national lakeshore in 1966 in order to preserve the shorelines, cliffs, beaches and dunes.

I took so many photos and I won't bore you with details so I'll choose the best one from each spot and only give you a couple photos of different types of daylight - heading out and coming back in.  The first stop was at Miners Castle.  This spot is where the Miners River meets Lake Superior, our fourth Great Lake this summer.  As you can see from the photo, there a great beach and a lookout (the castle) where people peer over to view the lake.  You can see why it's named Miners Castle, since it looks like the castle from a chess game.

After Miners Castle, we came to Painted Coves.

Next, we came to Caves of All Colors.

Lover's Leap.

Rainbow Cave.

Indian Head.  Can you see the resemblance to an Indian head, prominent nose, square nose and chin?

Gull Rookery.  Notice all the sea gulls on the white rock by the water?

Grand Portal.

Battleship Rock.

Flower Vase.

Indian Drum.

Chapel Cave.

Chapel Rock.  Notice that there is a lone tree growing on this rock.  To the left of the tree in the 2nd photo, you can see the root system connecting to the other berm.  Incredible!!  Also, the bottom photo shows the river flowing into Lake Superior with a nice beach.  Pictured Rocks Kayak Tours also brings people out on Lake Superior to tour the Pictured Rocks.

Notice the root system growing to the left of the tree like a bridge?!

Spray Falls.  This is the end of the groupings of Painted Rocks.  It's a great ending to a wonderful cruise!  Don't forget to watch a little video of the falls.  The water from the falls cascades down 70 feet into Lake Superior

On the way back, it did start to rain so people flocked inside to stay dry.  Scott enjoyed a little cell phone time while I took some photos of Lake Superior as a storm starting coming in.

Finally, just before we got back to Munising, we passed the Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse.  This little lighthouse was constructed of wood and opened for service in 1868.  Unfortunately, the light was very hard to see so the Munising Range Lights were constructed and this little lighthouse was removed from service sometime between 1908 and 1913.  In time, the lighthouse was neglected and was nearly in danger of being washed away due to erosion so the Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse Rescue Committee was formed to save it.  Private funds occurred and the little lighthouse started a rustic restoration - not like it was while in service - and in 2000, 85 volunteers worked for 30 days to create a 300 ft long seawall to protect the lighthouse.  It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lastly, here are a few photos as we came back into port.  People were in line for the last 8 p.m. tour.  Hopefully, they didn't get rained out.

Our truck is just left of the white oil container at the bottom right of the photo.

We really had a fun late afternoon - evening.  The rocks were each unique and the names described them perfectly.  It was a fun evening.  We didn't get back to the rig until about 10:30 p.m. but it was worth the drive out.  I'd recommend this it anyone and everyone!  On the way home, there was a gorgeous full moon and we kept stopping for photos as the night started to darken!  It was stunning!